The traditional view, held by both Jewish and Christian traditions, is that the Book of Genesis was written by Moses. According to this view, Moses wrote Genesis between around 1440 and 1400 BC during the 40 years after the Israelites' exodus from Egypt and before they entered the Promised Land. This places the writing of Genesis sometime during Moses' lifetime, roughly between 1520 and 1400 BC. This timeframe is supported by biblical references to Moses' authorship and historical context in the Bible itself. However, modern biblical scholarship often challenges this traditional authorship. The dominant scholarly view is that Genesis, along with the other books of the Pentateuch, reached its final form much later, possibly after the Babylonian exile, around the 5th century BC. This view is supported by the documentary hypothesis, which suggests that Genesis was composed from multiple sources over several centuries, with contributions and edits that finalized the text well after Moses' time. In summary:
- Traditional belief: Moses wrote Genesis around 1440-1400 BC.
- Scholarly consensus: Genesis was composed and finalized centuries later, possibly in the 5th century BC after the Babylonian exile.
The traditional dating is based on the biblical narrative and theological belief, while the scholarly dating is based on textual and historical analysis.
